We hate to start your day off on a sour note, but we have some bad news. Esben is leaving Reptile Youth. Oh, the sorrow. The much-loved Danish electrorock duo, composed of Mads Damsgaard Kristiansen and Esben Valløe, are parting ways, largely to make room for Esben to grow creatively and try something a little bit different—on his own. However, Mads is continuing as the lead singer and songwriter in Reptile Youth and will be playing liveshows and releasing under the name Reptile Youth from this day on. For Esben, leaving Reptile Youth gives him room to focus on his electronic music project, Antonio Gram. Check out the track “Demons” to hear for yourself what that’s like, but just in case you’re still wondering why the hell Reptile Youth is parting ways, we caught up with Esben to talk about leaving the band, his creative vision and what’s coming up with Antonio Gram.
Noisey: Hi, Esben. Where are you right now?
Esben: I’m in Berlin. I’m living here and I just finished my record. It’s been great to have the chance to do more collaborations with new electronic musicians and singers.
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Who did you work with on this new record?
I can’t tell you too much about the record so far, but there are many Danish and international features. “Demons” features Danish hip-hop producer Eloq and a girl called Emma Sehested, who is an actor and part of the group called Worn Out Sun. As I mentioned, I’ve quit Reptile Youth to make electronic music.
Was quitting the band an abrupt decision, or did you see it coming for a while?
I was reading through old interviews the other day, and I found this interview from the German equivalent to GAFFA, Intro Magazine. Mads and I were talking about where we were from musically—he said he was always inspired by Nirvana and I said something about electronic records from the 90s. When reading through that, it all made sense to me. Also when I was reading that, I was in Berlin and he was in LA—so it was like we were already back at our musical roots.
I want to make electronic music because it’s where I come from. In Reptile Youth, we have benefited a lot from both of our sources of inspiration, but of course, when you know your roots lie somewhere else, you want to pursue that, too. Our differences in musical inspiration have given us a lot of energy, but it’s also frustrating to not be able to go all the way in your own direction sometimes.
Entering electronic music puts you into a very diverse musical landscape. Where do you see yourself fitting in among that?
There are tons of different things going on right now in electronic music. I see indie going way more electronic, for example. And it spans from Animal Collective to Calvin Harris: there are extremes and a lot of interesting stuff emerging. I see artists like LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip taking the usual electronic things and adding pop, or they go from a rock paradigm and become more and more synth. So I think electronics are needed everywhere and to me, it’s a venue that allows me to make the music I want to make. Berlin is a very inspiring place to do that.
Photo by Mathias Øland Ribe, styling by Nanna Rosenfeldt.
Conceptually, what’s behind Antonio Gram?
The lyrics are very much about the ups and the downs of life, of being me and being these people I collaborated with. I’ve been writing the bulk of the lyrics, but you’ve also got lyrics from a poet and a rapper. The lyrics all come together with electronic music inspired by German techno and Middle Eastern sounds.
Sounds like a pretty unique mix. Do you have a concrete vision for what you’ll be making, or are you more excited about the learning experience of going deeper into electronic?
Well, I’m collaborating with more than ten people on this record. It’s about searching for the extreme opposites as opposed to working with just one singer. From another perspective, these collaborations are all individual stories to tell. You know what it’s like when you go to some gathering, see some friends and meet someone new? You get to know people along the way. For example, the only thing I had in common with this guy from South Africa I collaborated with – a talented singer – was an introduction from a mutual friend. Going from the Facebook acquaintance level to actually having something along the lines of a delicate relationship between two musicians is very intimate. You need to develop some kind of philosophical common ground to work from, and you need to have basic chemistry. I think that’s what’s driven me to do these collaborations – to be able to tell these stories.
It all comes down to the excitement of not knowing the result, but having this strong gut feeling and belief in the process and a strong expectation for the results as well.
Thanks, Esben.
Esben will be playing his first show as Antonio Gram on Spot Festival this year. Also, stay tuned for our video premiere for “Demons” coming up April 23rd.
